Investing.com -- The S&P 500 closed at a record high Thursday, as a jump in energy led the broader market rally and boosted sentiment after economic data showed possible signs of weakness in the consumer.
At 16:00 ET (21:00 GMT), the S&P 500 futures contract rose 0.5% to a closing record of 5,031.02. The Dow futures climbed 249 points or 0.9%, while Nasdaq 100 futures added 0.30%.
Occidental Petroleum leads energy higher
Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) rose nearly 5% to push the broader energy sector higher after Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRKa) revealed late Wednesday it had raised it stake in the oil major by about 9% in Q4.
Occidental Petroleum also reported quarterly results that topped Wall Street estimates following better-than-expected production.
Consumer strength in question after retail sales slip more than expected, but jobs market continues to so show strength
The Commerce Department said on Wednesday that retail sales fell 0.8% last month. That was a steeper than the 0.2% decline economists had expected and was largely driven by a drop in receipts at auto dealerships and gas stations.
"The retail sales report this month supports our view that the economy is strong but cooling," Morgan Stanley said in a Wednesday note, adding that it expects a first rate cut in June.
Still, the labor market continued to show signs of strength as initial jobless claims decreased by 8,000 to 212,000 in the week ended Feb 10, beating forecasts of a 1,000 decline, signaling that the labor market continues to show strength.
Treasury yields were off the high of the day, with the the rate-sensitive 2-year U.S. Treasury yield, which trade inversely to bond prices, were off the highs of the day trading at 4.576%.
Following the data, Goldman Sachs cut its outlook on U.S. Q1 economic to 2.5% from a prior estimate of 2.9%.
Cisco, Deere & Co . slump on guidance cut; Twilio tanks on softer outlook
Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO), down 2%, reduced its full-year guidance and detailed plans to cut its global workforce as part of a broader restructuring push, sending shares lower on Thursday.
Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) tumbled 5% after slashing its full-year net income outlook, in a sign that elevated interest rates are eating away at farmer demand for high-priced agricultural equipment. Shares in the agricultural equipment maker dipped.
Twilio Inc (NYSE:TWLO) also stumbled on the earnings stage after reporting softer guidance for the current quarter and weaker than expected growth in its segment.Its shares fell more than 15%, with Morgan Stanley saying the disclosed growth rates of the company's segment -- of 4% in Q4 from a year earlier and 7% for 2023 -- leave "us more cautious on the ability to turnaround this business while a part of Twilio."
SoundHound AI , ARM higher after Nvidia reveals stake; Super Micro gets BofA boost, Apple falls on Buffett trim
AI Chatbot software maker SoundHound AI (NASDAQ:SOUN) surged 66%, while chip designer Arm Holdings (NASDAQ:ARM) closed up over 5% after Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) revealed that it had taken stakes in both of the AI-related businesses.
"We continue to believe that Sound is in a strong position to capture its fair share of the AI chatbot market demand wave in 2024
Elsewhere in tech, Super Micro Computer (NASDAQ:SMCI) jumped more than 14% after Bank of America started coverage on the stock with a price target $1,040, citing a potential boost from AI-driven server demand.
Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL), meanwhile, cut losses to close just below the flatline after Berkshire Hathaway cut its stake in the tech giant by 1%, though the tech giant still makes up about a fifth of Berkshire's portfolio, which owns about 6% of Apple shares.
((Scott Kanowsky, Oliver Gray contributed to this report.))